Film reel clip

ABSTRACT

A film reel is provided with a film clip which adapts the reel for use either as an automatic take-up reel or a storage reel for either regular 8 mm. or super 8 mm. film. The film reel includes a central hub portion having a generally circular outer wall and a pair of spaced-apart side flanges extending radially outwardly from the hub portion. The outer wall of the hub is provided with a slot which receives the central loop-shaped portion of the clip, and the clip also includes a pair of end portions which extend in generally opposite directions from the clip central portion substantially tangent to the outer wall of the hub portion. An arcuate prong extends generally radially outwardly from one of the end portions adjacent one of the side flanges of the reel, and the thickness of the prong and the spacing thereof from the side flange of the reel is such that the prong can be received by sprocket opening of either regular 8 mm. film or super 8 mm. film. When the film is to be used as a take-up reel, the film is fed onto the central hub portion of the reel, and the prong passes through one of the sprocket openings of the film and winds the film about the reel. When the reel is to be used as a storage reel, the film is inserted into the loop-shaped central portion of the clip which extends through the notch in the outer wall of the hub, and rotation of the reel winds the film about the hub portion.

United States Patent [191 Patton 1541 FILM REEL CLIP [75] Inventor: Thomas Henry Patton, Niles, 111.

[73] Assignee: Compco Corporation, Chicago, Ill.

[22] Filed: Aug. 31, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 68,144

[52] U.S. Cl. ..242/74 [51] int. Cl. ..B65 75/28 [58] Field of Search ..242/74, 74.1, 74.2

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,653,775 9/1953 Eastman ..242/74.2 3,167,271 1/1965 Jacob ..242/74 3,522,915 8/1970 Kotous ..242/74 1,799,748 4/1931 Hayden ..242/74 1,118,689 11/1914 Sharlow ..242/74 3,315,911 4/1967 Bundschuh ..242/74 Primary Examiner-George F. Mautz Assistant Examiner-Edward J. McCarthy Attorney-Dawson, Tilton, Fallon & Lungmus [57] ABSTRACT A film reel is provided with a film clip which adapts 51 Jan. 30, 1973 the reel for use eitheras an automatic take-up reel or a storage reel for either regular 8 mm. or super 8 mm. film. The film reel includes a central hub portion having a generally circular outer wall and a pair of spaced-apart side flanges extending radially outwardly from the hub portion. The outer wall of the hub is provided with a slot which receives the central loopshaped portion of the clip, and the clip also includes a pair of end portions which extend in generally opposite directions from the clip central portion substantially tangent to the outer wall of the hub portion. An arcuate prong extends generally radially outwardly from one of the end portions adjacent one of the side flanges of the reel, and the thickness of the prong and the spacing thereof from the side flange of the reel is such that the prong can be received by sprocket opening of either regular 8 mm. fllm or super 8 mm. film. When the film is to be used as a take-up reel, the film is fed onto the central hub portion of the reel, and the prong passes through one of the sprocket openings of the film and winds the film about the reel. When the reel is to be used as a storage reel, the film is inserted into the loop-shaped central portion of the clip which extends through the notch in the outer wall of the hub, and rotation of the reel winds the film about the hub portion;

2 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJAH 30 I973 I 3 7 1 3 .602

SHEET 1 OF 2 mvENTbR;

THOMAS H. PATTON g yl g FILM REEL CLIP BACKGROUND This invention relates to film reels, and, more particularly, to a film reel and film clip combination which is suitable for use either as an automatic take-up reel or as a storage reel for either regular 8 mm. film or super 8 mm. film.

Movie projectors today commonly utilize two types of film reels. The film is generally wound on a storage reel before and after projection and stored in a conventional storage can. In recent years, movie projectors have become increasingly automatic. For example, film may now be threaded automatically through the projector, and the film may be fed by the threading means to the take-up reel for automatic take-up and winding about the take-up reel without any manual intervention. The automatic take-up reel may be provided with suitable teeth, prongs or similar means for engaging one or more of the typical sprocket holes of the film so that as the take-up reel is rotated by the projector, the film will be caught by the engaging means and wound about the reel.

The reel which feeds the film into the projector, i.e., the storage reel, need not be provided with automatic take-up means since during the rewinding operation, the film is generally fed directly from the take-up reel to the storage reel and the initial anchoring of the film to the storage reel is done manually. For this reason, the storage reel is commonly provided with a slot which extends through the hub portion of the reel through which the film can be inserted and anchored for the rewinding operation.

Because of the different functions and objectives of the automatic take-up reel and the storage reel, two separate reels have generally heretofore been provided, and a camera store was generally required to stock both types of reels. Also, because the take-up reels and storage reels are not conveniently interchangeable, the photographer might likewise be required to stock two different types of reels, one for each purpose.

With the introduction of super 8 mm. film, the problem was compounded, since both the camera stores and the photographers would need both take-up reels and storage reels for both regular 8 mm. film and super 8 mm. film.

SUMMARY The invention adapts a movie reel for use either as a take-up reel or a storage reel depending upon the need of the particular situation, for either regular 8 mm. film or super 8 mm. film, thereby requiring only a single type of reel when heretofore four different types of reels were generally required.

A film clip is inserted into the hub portion of the reel, and the clip is divided with a slotted, loop-shaped central portion and a pair of end portions extending away from the central portion generally tangentially to the hub portion. One of the end portions is provided with an arcuately extending prong sized and located to permit insertion into a sprocket opening of either regular 8 film or super 8 film. When the reel is to be used as a storage reel, the film is merely inserted into the slotted central portion and is then wound about the hub portion of the reel. When a reel is to be used for automatic pick-up, the film is fed toward the rotating hub portion of the reel, and the prong will engage one of the sprocket openings of the film and cause the film to be wound about the hub portion.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The invention will be explained in conjunction with an illustrated embodiment shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a film reel and a film clip formed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the film clip;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary side view of the reel and clip;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the film clip; FIG. 6 is a side view taken along the line 66 of FIG.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the prong of the clip;

FIG. 8 is an end view taken along the line 8--8 of FIG. 5;

FIGS. 9 and 10 are views illustrating the sprocket openings of super 8 mm. film and regular 8 mm. film, respectively, and the interrelationship of the prong with each.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIGS. 14, the numeral 10 designates generally a film reel suitable for use with either regular 8 film or super 8 film. The film reel includes a central hub portion 11 having a generally circular outer wall 12, and a pair of side flanges 13 and 14 which serve to confine the film as it is wound about the central hub portion.

The particular reel illustrated is a two-piece reel formed of substantially identical reel halves l5 and 16 which are joined by rivets 17. Each of the reel halves includes an annularly shaped central portion 18 which is provided with a central opening 19 for the drive shaft or spindle of the projector, a hub-forming portion 20 which is drawn inwardly from the central portion 18, and a generally cylindrical shoulder 21 extending generally perpendicularly outwardly from the hubforming portion and which provides one half of the generally cylindrical outer wall 12 of the hub. Radially outwardly extending spokes 22 connect the shoulder 21 to an outer ring 23. The spokes 22 have enlarged foot portions 24 adjacent the shoulders 21 and the spokes serve as confining side walls for the film as it is wound about the hub. A slot 25 is provided through the hub wall between the foot portions of two adjacent spokes on each reel half, and the slot communicates with a generally circular opening 26 in the hub-forming portions.

A film clip 27 is received in the slot 25 and opening 26 and is retained therein by the foot portions 24 of the spokes 22. The clip 27 is seen to be formed of a continuous fiat strip having longitudinal side edges 28 and 29 and transverse end edges 30 and 31. The strip is shaped to provide a loop-shaped central portion 32 which is received in the correspondingly shaped opening 26 in the hub-forming portions of the two reel halves, a pair of substantially straight intermediate portions 33 and 34 formed by an outward bend of the strip from each end of the loop, and substantially straight end portions 35 and 36 which extend in generally opposite directions from the intermediate portions.

The end portion 35 is punched adjacent the side edge 28 to provide an arcuate prong 37 which is bent outwardly from the end portion to extend in a plane generally perpendicular thereto, leaving a correspondingly shaped opening 38.

Referring particularly to FIG. 7, the prong includes a concave leading edge 39 facing the direction of rotation of the reel and a convex trailing edge 40 which meet at a pointed end 41 which points toward the direction of reel rotation.

Both regular 8 film and super 8 film are 8 mms. wide, or approximately five-sixteenths inch. The primary difference between regular 8 film and super 8 film is the area of the picture frame, the area of the super 8 frame being substantially greater than the area of the regular 8 frame. This increased area is permitted by decreasing the area of the slots or openings which are located along one side of the film and which are engaged by the teeth or prongs of the film drive sprockets in the projector.

The difference in the size and placement of the sprocket openings for regular 8 and super 8 film is illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10, FIG. 9 showing a sprocket opening for standard super 8 film and FIG. showing the sprocket opening for standard regular 8 film. As shown in FIG. 9, strip 42 of super 8 film is provided with rectangular sprocket openings 43 adjacent a longitudinal side edge 44 of the film. Each opening 43 has a transverse dimension A of about 0.036 inch and a longitudinal dimension B of 0.045 inch. The inner edge 45 of the opening is spaced from the side 44 of the film a distance C of about 0.056 inch, and the outer edge 46 of the opening is spaced from the film edge 44 a distance D of about 0.020 inch.

Referring now to FIG. 10, the sprocket openings 43' of regular 8 film 42 have a transverse dimension A of about 0.072 inch anda longitudinal dimension B of about 0.050 inch. The inner edge 45' of each opening is spaced from film edge 44' a distance C of about 0.108 inch, and the outer edge 46 is spaced from the film edge a distance D of about 0.036 inch.

Because of the difference in the size of the sprocket openings for the two types of film and the spacing of the sprocket openings from the film edge, the anchor means for take-up reels heretofore provided were generally not suitable for use with both regular 8 and super 8 film. The prong 37 of the film clip 27, however, is sized and positioned to fall within the area of overlap which would be obtained if the two different sprocket openings were superimposed, so that the prong can be received by either opening. The transverse dimension of this area of overlap is represented by the dimension E adjacent the two film strips, which is C minus D; or about 0.020 inch.

The prong 37 can therefore be received by either sprocket opening if the minimum distance from the adjacent side of the film is at least 0.036 inch and the maximum distance is no more than 0.056 inch. The particular clip illustrated is formed from spring tempered phosphor bronze having a thickness of about 0.008 inch, and the prong 37 which is punched from the end portion 35 also has a thickness of about 8 mils.

Referring to FIG. 7, the outside surface of the prong 37, i.e., the side facing the adjacent side edge 28 of the clip, is positioned a distance therefrom of about 0.047 inch. Since the thickness of the prong is about 8 mils,

the opposite side of the prong is positioned a distance of about 0.055 inch from the side edge 28. The width of the clip, i.e., the distance between the side edges 28 and 29, is about five-sixteenths inch, or about 8 mils. Accordingly, the prong 37 will fall within the overlapping portions of the regular 8 and super 8 sprocket openings, and the clip can be used with either type of film.

Referring to FIG. 7, the longitudinal dimension G of the prong 37 at the juncture between the prong and the end portion 35 is about three sixty-fourths inch, and the total longitudinal dimension H of the prong is about three thirty-seconds inch. The prong has a height I of about three thirty-seconds inch, and both the leading and trailing edges 39 and 40, respectively, have a radius of about 0.1 12 inch. Since the total longitudinal dimension of the prong is about three thirty-seconds inch, the prong can readily be received by either type of sprocket opening.

The side flanges l3 and 14 of the film reel are advantageously spaced a distance just slightly greater than 8 mms. so that either regular 8 or super 8 film can be wound between the side flanges without substantial lateral movement. The film clip 27 also has a width of about five-sixteenths inch or about 8 mms., and it too will be positioned between the side flanges l3 and I4 relatively snugly, i.e., without substantial transverse or lateral movement. As can be seen in FIG. 4, the loopshaped portion 32 of the film clip is received by correspondingly shaped opening 26 in the hub-forming portion of the reel, and the end portions 35 and 36 extend generally tangentially to the outer wall 12 of the hub between the side flanges l3 and 14. The intermediate portions 33 and 34 extend through the slot 25 provided between adjacent spokes 22 and through the shoulders 21 of the reel halves, and the film clip is maintained in position by the spokes 22 which restrain substantial transverse movement of the end portions 35 and 36 and by the loop-shaped central portion 32 which is restrained from radially outward movement by the shoulders 21. The clip can readily be inserted into the opening in the film reel by flexing the end portion of the clip toward each other to permit the end portions to pass between adjacent spokes 22 as the loop portion and intermediate portion are inserted into the openings 26 and 25. When the clip is positioned between the side flanges 13 and 14 of the reel, the resilient end portions can be released, and the end portions will return to their original substantially co-planar alignment.

While I have described the clip in conjunction with a two-part reel having an inwardly dished hub-forming portion 20, it will be understood that the clip can be used with almost any type of reel. For example, some film reels are formed from two side flanges and a separate hub made of either one or two sections. Plastic reels made of either a single piece of plastic or multiple pieces of plastic cemented together are also available. The film clip can be used with these as well as many other types of reels.

Further, although I have described one particular method of inserting the clip into a particular type of reel, the method of insertion may vary with the type of reel. For example, with a three or four piece reel, the

plastic parts, and on a one piece plastic reel certain cut outs could be made into which the clip could be inserted after the reel is molded or even while the reel is molded. The use of the film clip enables any reel with which it is used to be able to be used for either storage or automatic take-up, and the automatic take-up feature is applicable to either regular 8 or super 8 film.

If the reel is to be used for storage, the end of the film is merely inserted into the slot or mouth provided between the intermediate portions 33 and 34 of the clip into the loop-shaped central portion, after which the reel can be rotated to wind the film about the central hub portion. The storage reel is generally positioned on the drive spindle used for rewinding the film, and during rewinding the reel will rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 4. The film will therefore extend from the slot between the intermediate portions of the film clip to the right in FIG. 4 and can therefore lay substantially flat against the end portion 36 of the film clip and the outer wall of the hub without interference from the prong.

in the embodiment illustrated, the hub is formed so that the intermediate portions 33 and 34 exert a slight pressure against each other, and this clamping pressure serves to provide added securement for the end of the film when it is inserted between the intermediate portions. insertion of the film is not difficult because of the resiliency of the clip and because of the thinness of the film, but once the film is inserted, the intermediate portions provide a substantial bearing area to clamp the film.

When the reel is to be used for automatic take-up, the reel will again be rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 4, and as the film is fed by the drive mechanism of the projector toward the central hub portion of the reel, the prong will pass through one of the sprocket openings in the film and cause the film to wrap about the hub. The prong is seen to curve toward the direction of rotation, and this arcuate shape provides a secure hold on the film.

Although the width of regular 8 and super 8 film is the same, the drive spindles for regular 8 and super 8 projectors are generallydifierent, the drive spindles for super 8 being slightly larger than those for regular 8 projectors. By providing the reel with a spindle opening 19 suitable for super 8 projectors, the reel can be adapted for use with regular 8 projectors by an adapter fitting such as is described in my co-pending application entitled Adapter for 8 MM. Film Reel, Ser. No. 774,804, filed Nov. l2, 1968 now U.S. Pat. No. 3,532,287.

While in the foregoing specification, I have described a specific embodiment of my invention in considerable detail for the purpose of illustration, it is to be understood that many of the details herein given may be varied considerably by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

lclaim:

1. in combination, a film reel and a film clip for film provided with s rocket openings, the reel includin a central hub por ion having a generally circular ou er wall, and a pair of spaced-apart side flanges extending radially outwardly from the hub portion, the outer wall being provided with a slot extending therethrough, the clip having a central portion extending radially outwardly through the slot in the outer wall of the hub and a pair of generally flat end portions extending from the central clip portion in generally opposite directions adjacent the outer wall of the hub between the side flanges, a relatively pointed prong extending generally radially outwardly from one of the end portions, the prong being positioned closer to one side flange than the other whereby film may alternatively be inserted in the central portion of the clip or may be held by the prong by inserting the prong through a sprocket opening in the film, the prong including a pair of side edges spaced about 8 mm. apart, the prong having a minimum distance from one of the side edges of about 0.036 inch and a maximum distance from said one side edge of about 0.056 inch whereby the reel and clip can be used for either regular 8 mm. film or super 8 mm. film.

2. A film clip for a film reel comprising a strip of elongated, relatively flat material having a pair of Iongitudinally extending side edges and formed to provide a central portion, a pair of generally oppositely extending end portions, and an intermediate portion connecting each end portion to the central portion, the intermediate portions providing a slot therebetween for receiving a film end, and a prong extending generally perpendicularly from one of the end portions, the prong being positioned closer to one of the side edges of the clip than the other whereby film may altematively be inserted between the intermediate portions or may be held by the prong by inserting the prong through a sprocket opening in the film, the maximum distance of the prong from said one side edge being about 0.056 inch and the minimum distance of the prong from said one side edge being about 0.036 inch whereby the film clip can engage the sprocket openings of either regular 8 mm. or super 8 mm. film.

* i i i i 

1. In combination, a film reel and a film clip for film provided with sprocket openings, the reel including a central hub portion having a generally circular outer wall, and a pair of spaced-apart side flanges extending radially outwardly from the hub portion, the outer wall being provided with a slot extending therethrough, the clip having a central portion extending radially outwardly through the slot in the outer wall of the hub and a pair of generally flat end portions extending from the central clip portion in generally opposite directions adjacent the outer wall of the hub between the side flanges, a relatively pointed prong extending generally radially outwardly from one of the end portions, the prong being positioned closer to one side flange than the other whereby film may alternatively be inserted in the central portion of the clip or may be held by the prong by inserting the prong through a sprocket opening in the film, the prong including a pair of side edges spaced about 8 mm. apart, the prong having a minimum distance from one of the side edges of about 0.036 inch and a maximum distance from said one side edge of about 0.056 inch whereby the reel and clip can be used for either regular 8 mm. film or super 8 mm. film.
 1. In combination, a film reel and a film clip for film provided with sprocket openings, the reel including a central hub portion having a generally circular outer wall, and a pair of spacedapart side flanges extending radially outwardly from the hub portion, the outer wall being provided with a slot extending therethrough, the clip having a central portion extending radially outwardly through the slot in the outer wall of the hub and a pair of generally flat end portions extending from the central clip portion in generally opposite directions adjacent the outer wall of the hub between the side flanges, a relatively pointed prong extending generally radially outwardly from one of the end portions, the prong being positioned closer to one side flange than the other whereby film may alternatively be inserted in the central portion of the clip or may be held by the prong by inserting the prong through a sprocket opening in the film, the prong including a pair of side edges spaced about 8 mm. apart, the prong having a minimum distance from one of the side edges of about 0.036 inch and a maximum distance from said one side edge of about 0.056 inch whereby the reel and clip can be used for either regular 8 mm. film or super 8 mm. film. 